Database Info

Backing up.

Ok, so I searched all the threads that came up and no luck in answering my question.
When I do a back up in CWM under "back up" on restore/backup, what does it back up? Is it an exact copy of my phone? Just the ROM?
Please and thank you

Think of a backup as an exact snapshot of your phone at that moment. All of your apps, settings, messages, everything is saved. If you restore a backup it will restore your phone to exactly the same state it was when the backup was created.

phburks said:
Think of a backup as an exact snapshot of your phone at that moment. All of your apps, settings, messages, everything is saved. If you restore a backup it will restore your phone to exactly the same state it was when the backup was created.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How sure are you of this? lol..

Well we have all trusted this method forever but here u go
Think of it as basically turning ur phone off and then ****ing around with someone elses phone then turning ur phone back on
So its is a 100 percent copy of ur phone
Sent from my LG-P999 using XDA App

Paul Nur said:
How sure are you of this? lol..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I do it all the time. Several times per week as I try out different roms, kernels, edits, etc. Works fine for me. But I guess there's only one way you'll know for sure. Lol
One suggestion: make sure you are making your backups from the copy of cwm you nvflashed to your G2X, not rom manager.

phburks said:
I do it all the time. Several times per week as I try out different roms, kernels, edits, etc. Works fine for me. But I guess there's only one way you'll know for sure. Lol
One suggestion: make sure you are making your backups from the copy of cwm you nvflashed to your G2X, not rom manager.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I only use ROM manager to boot into recov. i'm to lazy to hold buttons and ugh i'm already tired talking about it, lol.

Paul Nur said:
I only use ROM manager to boot into recov. i'm to lazy to hold buttons and ugh i'm already tired talking about it, lol.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The copy of recovery you boot into from rom manager is not the same one as if you nvflash it. If you use rom manager to boot into recovery and then make backups, you may run into issues when you try to restore that backup. Just a friendly word of warning.
Nvflash recovery if you haven't already, boot into recovery holding power + volume down, and then make your backups from there.

phburks said:
The copy of recovery you boot into from rom manager is not the same one as if you nvflash it. If you use rom manager to boot into recovery and then make backups, you may run into issues when you try to restore that backup. Just a friendly word of warning.
Nvflash recovery if you haven't already, boot into recovery holding power + volume down, and then make your backups from there.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes! I noticed this, my CWM version is like 5. something, and when I boot (physically?) it is like 4. something and its orange vs. blue when I use ROM manager, what up with that?

Paul Nur said:
Yes! I noticed this, my CWM version is like 5. something, and when I boot (physically?) it is like 4. something and its orange vs. blue when I use ROM manager, what up with that?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Rom manager only "fake flashes" recovery. What exactly that means? I'm not sure lol, but I do know that it's not a persistent flash. It seems to work fine for flashing roms but I've read about issues with performing nandroid backups with the rom manager clockworkmod recovery. I tried it once and couldn't restore the backup so since then I've always used the recovery that i installed with nvflash.
The nvflash method installs recovery so that it's persistent and can be booted into using power + volume down, even when your phone won't boot into the normal OS.

I hate me [n00b question]

So I have a I-9020A with at&t. I have rooted followed by flashing -su and roms instructions using instructions on the net. But after following that process and then going backwards (flashing stock w/ no root locking bootloader) I have realized after that I have more questions.
So first: Unlocking the Bootloader erases the phone. Unlocking the bootloader is needed to flash CWM and SU. I have read many many things about NANDROID, how is NANDROID different from CWM?
So I guess my next question is: How does one remove SU? In the process of rooting and flashing CWM and ROMs I make a backup prior to going to deep... that Backup will have SU, I have unrooted, but SU is still on the phone and I cannot seem to remove it.
Another question is: where are the data files on the phone for apps like Plants vs Zombies? I would like to move them off my phone prior to root, though I'm not sure if that is possible (is it?).
The last question is: If I wanted to muck around with ICS and the source code, is it as simple as flashing the source as explained on the google site? because they make it sound rather easy.
Thanks for any and all help,
toonhead

toonhead85 said:
So I have a I-9020A with at&t. I have rooted followed by flashing -su and roms instructions using instructions on the net. But after following that process and then going backwards (flashing stock w/ no root locking bootloader) I have realized after that I have more questions.
So first: Unlocking the Bootloader erases the phone. This process is needed to flash CWM (but not -su?). I have read many many things about NANDROID, but I have no idea what that is except a backup of a stock rom. When I power my phone off and press Vol up and power on then go to recovery I get an Android w/ a triangle with an exclamation and cant do anything at that point.
So I guess my next question is: How does one backup a stock rom (like you would using CMW) without rooting? or is there not a way and I should just except that when I root for the first time I should expect to loose everything and take off things like pics ect before hand.
The last question is: If I wanted to muck around with ICS and the source code, is it as simple as flashing the source as explained on the google site? because they make it sound rather easy.
Thanks for any and all help,
toonhead
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sounds like you should have read more.
When you open the bootloader (the lock) it will wipe your personal data off the phone (not SD storage). This just means you get it as if you just bought it from the store. There is no way around it but happens only once and you'll never have to do it again. Unless you lock it back
Once the bootloader is unlocked you can now flash a custom recovery such as CWM which will let you manage and back up your phone with whatever ROM you want/have.
Once recovery is on your device you also have to root the phone. For this you'll need a zip flashable file with the superuser apk and SU binary files. Flash it in recovery and you should be good to go.
The last step is to install a ROM of your choice. You can just run what the phone has and it will work fine and even take updates without a problem. However, every time you want to flash something you'll need to flash CWM again because the stock image flashes the default recovery on reboot. There is a file you can delete to prevent this from happening. I forgot the path so look around. However, I would recommend you flash a stock ROM which already comes loaded with good stuff and all other things are done for you Just stop by the development section and pick a ROM you like.
Naroid is just a backup.
Oh, and BTW, mocking around with ICS... I would leave that for later. First get your head around basic flashing/rooting stuff. Changing the source code requires knowledge of code and even phone hardware. I'm guessing it's not for you just yet

obsanity said:
Sounds like you should have read more.
When you open the bootloader (the lock) it will wipe your personal data off the phone (not SD storage). This just means you get it as if you just bought it from the store. There is no way around it but happens only once and you'll never have to do it again. Unless you lock it back
Once the bootloader is unlocked you can now flash a custom recovery such as CWM which will let you manage and back up your phone with whatever ROM you want/have.
Once recovery is on your device you also have to root the phone. For this you'll need a zip flashable file with the superuser apk and SU binary files. Flash it in recovery and you should be good to go.
The last step is to install a ROM of your choice. You can just run what the phone has and it will work fine and even take updates without a problem. However, every time you want to flash something you'll need to flash CWM again because the stock image flashes the default recovery on reboot. There is a file you can delete to prevent this from happening. I forgot the path so look around. However, I would recommend you flash a stock ROM which already comes loaded with good stuff and all other things are done for you Just stop by the development section and pick a ROM you like.
Naroid is just a backup.
Oh, and BTW, mocking around with ICS... I would leave that for later. First get your head around basic flashing/rooting stuff. Changing the source code requires knowledge of code and even phone hardware. I'm guessing it's not for you just yet
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i was going to write something similar. toonhead85 you should do a bit more research and reading before you start hacking on your phone. youve hearts in the right place, but youre not quite ready just yet. at least take small steps at first

A little more clarification or nandroid backups:
Nandroid is a specific type of backup of the phone's system files. I think that includes system rom and radio. I not sure if any data is included in the backup. You should make a nandroid backup of the stock rom bbefore you flash any custom roms. If something goes wrong with a rom flash or if you want to restore to a previous stock or custom rom, you can restore from the backups you have made. You create these nandroid backups by booting into recovery and selecting the backup option (I think maybe named backup and restore). Backups are usually found on your SD card, but you can copy them to your computer to save additional copies.
If you want to also backup apps, get a good backup program from the market. Two that I have used are Titanium Backup for Root and MyBackups for Root. They can backup and restore apps and data as well as system data.

Thanks for all of the amazing replys. I do know that I am not at the point where I wanna muck around in the system to much as this is my one and only phone. But I would like to at some point.
But something I wanna know is this: If in flash CWM, can I use it without root? Say to make a backup of the stock rom before flashing SU? I only ask because I am currently at work and can't test the idea.
Another question is this: I know how to get to the stock recovery, but from what I read you use the VOL UP to get the "Menu". When I push any (hardware) button I get nothing and the image being displayed is an Android with a triangle and there is an exclimation point in it. Any thoughts?

a nandroid saves everything in your phone, just how it is at that moment. and when you restore it, your phone goes back to that very moment you made that nandroid backup. all your data remain. everything. its like you didnt do anything in between backing up and restoring

simms22 said:
a nandroid saves everything in your phone, just how it is at that moment. and when you restore it, your phone goes back to that very moment you made that nandroid backup. all your data remain. everything. its like you didnt do anything in between backing up and restoring
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
and you need root to use NANDROID? Or just an unlocked bootloader and to flash it over?

toonhead85 said:
and you need root to use NANDROID? Or just an unlocked bootloader and to flash it over?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
unlocked bootloader

FANTASTIC!!! Thank you all so very much!!

simms22 said:
unlocked bootloader
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And CWM recovery.
You don't need root to backup but remember that when you reboot it will flash back to stock recovery (the triangle). You can simply repeat the adb command to flash CWM again.
Sent from my Nexus S 4G

And CWM recovery.
You don't need root to backup but remember that when you reboot it will flash back to stock recovery (the triangle). You can simply repeat the adb command to flash CWM again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So I could flash unlock my bootloader > flash CWM > Make a backup and save it to my computer then when i reboot my phone it would automatically reflash the stock recovery? and if this is correct, then all i would need to do is flash CWM to restore the saved backup?
So here's a question, is it the action of flashing SU that keeps the phone from removing CWM and reinstalling stock recovery?

You must rename the /system/etc/install-recovery.sh file or it will keep replacing the stock recovery. See this post, item 2.

No .androidsecure?

Ok so i backed up my tf using cwm and everything worked perfectly. When i try restoring the back up it first restores the system apps but then there is an error saying the is no .androidsecure file. And my tf wont boot up after. I then have to flash an old tf version for it start working again.
If anyone has a solution that would be great

mafo5000 said:
Ok so i backed up my tf using cwm and everything worked perfectly. When i try restoring the back up it first restores the system apps but then there is an error saying the is no .androidsecure file. And my tf wont boot up after. I then have to flash an old tf version for it start working again.
If anyone has a solution that would be great
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It might not have anything to do with the 'error' which is maybe not an error, just an informational message from the "Froyo" days. This is all guesswork, but I seem to recall that .android_secure was for apps that were movable and moved to the sdcard. That just doesn't really make sense on the TF101 using Honeycomb, so if you don't have that folder (.android_secure), that that's cool.
Does the restore complete entirely aside from the message about .and* ?
Another thing I wonder about with cwm restores is the kernel. Did you have a working kernel in your tf101 before you got started with this restore? I'm not really seeing how it restores the kernel (boot.img/zImage/whatever) in this version of cwm. All I see saved is system.img, the md5sum, data.img and cache.img. My guess is that you might benefit by picking a kernel, like either the latest stock one or say, Prime's kernel, and burning that in afterward, clearing dalvik and rebooting again.
Note: It might be that everything needed is somehow in system.img and that cwm has the smarts to burn what it needs to the right places, but in every other version of cwm I've seen, there is a boot.img file in the cwm backup that contains the kernel.
If anyone knows how cwm is burning a blob for the kernel, I'd be curious to know how since I'm not looking at the code. Thanks.
Good luck

the restore doesnt completely restore.
It goes something like this....
System apps restore
I think another restore
Then the error
Restore cache
And then its done. It boots me up to an Asus image and wont go past.
These are the files in my cwm restore
Cache.img
Data.img
Nandroid.md5
System.img
Also i have stock kernel

mafo5000 said:
the restore doesnt completely restore.
It goes something like this....
System apps restore
I think another restore
Then the error
Restore cache
And then its done. It boots me up to an Asus image and wont go past.
These are the files in my cwm restore
Cache.img
Data.img
Nandroid.md5
System.img
Also i have stock kernel
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So it sounds like the restore is completing with the message about the secure folder then dropping dead during the kernel load. If I understand you right, it sounds like you "had" a stock kernel when it was working, but I wonder if you've got any viable kernel right now?
Since your tf101 isn't working and is basically useless, you could try to boot back to cwm and burn some known working current kernel in there. I don't have the links right now to the stock one, but you could try a nearly stock one from the Prime ROM http://roach.qap.la/Roms/Prime_v2.0/OCKernel_Prime_v2.0.6.zip .
I don't know what his zip file looks like but at least it'll force the issue of burning a blob into the boot partition and you can tell if the kernel was the problem.
If that doesn't work, then your backup was possibly corrupted and I don't have a good answer other than to install either a stock image or one of the ROMs people use like Prime or Revolution and see how they do.
I'm also guessing that blowing a new image on there is a last resort because you had stuff setup the way you wanted it, but it's for you to decide that. You could search the forums for something that does some sort of integrity check on the cwm backups, or better yet, get in touch with Solarnz or Daoist via messages and ask their advice. They're experts here in cwm and I'm not.

hachamacha said:
So it sounds like the restore is completing with the message about the secure folder then dropping dead during the kernel load. If I understand you right, it sounds like you "had" a stock kernel when it was working, but I wonder if you've got any viable kernel right now?
Since your tf101 isn't working and is basically useless, you could try to boot back to cwm and burn some known working current kernel in there. I don't have the links right now to the stock one, but you could try a nearly stock one from the Prime ROM http://roach.qap.la/Roms/Prime_v2.0/OCKernel_Prime_v2.0.6.zip .
I don't know what his zip file looks like but at least it'll force the issue of burning a blob into the boot partition and you can tell if the kernel was the problem.
If that doesn't work, then your backup was possibly corrupted and I don't have a good answer other than to install either a stock image or one of the ROMs people use like Prime or Revolution and see how they do.
I'm also guessing that blowing a new image on there is a last resort because you had stuff setup the way you wanted it, but it's for you to decide that. You could search the forums for something that does some sort of integrity check on the cwm backups, or better yet, get in touch with Solarnz or Daoist via messages and ask their advice. They're experts here in cwm and I'm not.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I flashed another kernel but I still get the error when trying to restore. I've been searching around and I guess I'm missing the .android_secure file in the data.img. I just dont know how to fix it.
Btw my tf is usable and all I am just not able to restore all my apps and such. So its basically like new..

mafo5000 said:
Btw my tf is usable and all I am just not able to restore all my apps and such. So its basically like new..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Couldn't you extract data.img and then make a CWM zip out of that?
Sent from my X10a using The Force

AyDee said:
Couldn't you extract data.img and then make a CWM zip out of that?
Sent from my X10a using The Force
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I dont know if that would work because, i think, the error is in the data.img.
I could try that though, how would i change it to a cwm zip?

Google "extract data.img android" and "make cwm zip" or search here.

AyDee said:
Google "extract data.img android" and "make cwm zip" or search here.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I found this app called app extractor and it can extract apps from old nandroid backups. It works when trying to restore the system apps but when i try to restore user apps it is unable to. If been searching around on how to extract the data.img and what ive found is that i need to use something call unyaffs. If you can point me in a way of a great tutorial that would be great because i can not find one...

CWM Won't Restore boot image

Help! I want to restore my phone to a previous nandroid backup, however, CWM stops on restoring boot.img ......everything else can be restore except for boot.img.... passes md5, but just gets error when flashing... now can't boot.... stuck at the boot screen...

zaghy2zy said:
Help! I want to restore my phone to a previous nandroid backup, however, CWM stops on restoring boot.img ......everything else can be restore except for boot.img.... passes md5, but just gets error when flashing... now can't boot.... stuck at the boot screen...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you restoring a nandroid for an ICS rom within blue CWM recovery? If so, and if everything else flashed successfully, you can try flashing an ICS kernel image using Heimdall or Odin. If that doesn't work, then you have a borked nandroid restore and need to Odin or Heimdall back to stock Gingerbread and start over.
If you happen to be trying to restore a Gingerbread backup (which I don't think is the case, since you mention a boot.img), then you need to get back to red CWM recovery to restore the Gingerbread nandroid backup.

jscott30 said:
Are you restoring a nandroid for an ICS rom within blue CWM recovery? If so, and if everything else flashed successfully, you can try flashing an ICS kernel image using Heimdall or Odin. If that doesn't work, then you have a borked nandroid restore and need to Odin or Heimdall back to stock Gingerbread and start over.
If you happen to be trying to restore a Gingerbread backup (which I don't think is the case, since you mention a boot.img), then you need to get back to red CWM recovery to restore the Gingerbread nandroid backup.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I got it back... And so I was trying to restore a GB nandroid... So what I did is just go back to stock and work up from there... Thanks anyhow! Will look back on this as reference next time... Hehe

my CWM wont restore boot.img. please help, i want my stock android back.

Official_Rainbow_Dash said:
my CWM wont restore boot.img. please help, i want my stock android back.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Download one of the MANY fine heimdall or Odin packages here. They are available in rooted or unrooted.
Sent from my Carbon-ized Infuse

[Q] cm10 unintall method for htc one v (india-gsm)

i have installed cm10 on htc one v primo-u (india gsm ) and i wish to revert to the original image.
i tried to flash India_1567201recovery_signed.img file but no success.
can someone help me with a procedure how to revert to either 1.56.720 or 2.09.720 image of the phone

romah1 said:
i have installed cm10 on htc one v primo-u (india gsm ) and i wish to revert to the original image.
i tried to flash India_1567201recovery_signed.img file but no success.
can someone help me with a procedure how to revert to either 1.56.720 or 2.09.720 image of the phone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How did you try to flash the RUU? You can not flash it like a normal ROM
Also if you are looking for the RUU try HERE
I see what you're trying to do, that won't work...you can't flash a recovery to get to stock because stock phone won't flash from recovery, which is why once you get root the first thing you do is flash a custom recovery. Use the RUU to flash it back to shipped state stock, or if you are trying to keep root and just want to use a different ROM. More clarification on what you are trying to accomplish would be nice.
If you did a Nandroid prior to flashing CM10 I would wipe all partitions except SD and restore the Nandroid, if all you want to do is get CM10 off your phone. Remember Nandroid Backups are your friend do them before flashing anything and save them to your PC if you don't want the SD space taken. Doing this has made flashing pain free and hassle free. If I don't like how my phone is running after a flash I can always get it right back to how it was when I was happy with it. Lastly there was a time when I had a Nandroid backup of a Sense ROM and was on AOSP and wanted to flash back to Sense, well my Backup wouldn't flash. After spending hours raising hell I did a clean install of the ROM booted once, then rebooted into recovery and flashed the Nandroid backup that had the settings I was using (when I was on Sense, it won't restore data and apps used on AOSP)...sorry if its not much help but more details are needed. But you have a starting point.

ItzCrooK2UxD said:
How did you try to flash the RUU? You can not flash it like a normal ROM
Also if you are looking for the RUU try HERE
I see what you're trying to do, that won't work...you can't flash a recovery to get to stock because stock phone won't flash from recovery, which is why once you get root the first thing you do is flash a custom recovery. Use the RUU to flash it back to shipped state stock, or if you are trying to keep root and just want to use a different ROM. More clarification on what you are trying to accomplish would be nice.
If you did a Nandroid prior to flashing CM10 I would wipe all partitions except SD and restore the Nandroid, if all you want to do is get CM10 off your phone. Remember Nandroid Backups are your friend do them before flashing anything and save them to your PC if you don't want the SD space taken. Doing this has made flashing pain free and hassle free. If I don't like how my phone is running after a flash I can always get it right back to how it was when I was happy with it. Lastly there was a time when I had a Nandroid backup of a Sense ROM and was on AOSP and wanted to flash back to Sense, well my Backup wouldn't flash. After spending hours raising hell I did a clean install of the ROM booted once, then rebooted into recovery and flashed the Nandroid backup that had the settings I was using (when I was on Sense, it won't restore data and apps used on AOSP)...sorry if its not much help but more details are needed. But you have a starting point.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i have installed CM10 without backing up any image, therefore i cannot restore the orifginal vendor's rom. Nandroid back would have prevented this situation. the second problem is that I couldnt find any RUU for this phone. indeed the link you attached seems to have it bu unfortunately it is in chineese and after pushing all the buttons i couldn't download the file. so my options are
1- to pray that someone will be kind enough to publish it in a manner that it is accessible
2- I have a friend with a simillar phone , can i somehow back up hus rom and restore it in mine ????
thank
romah1